MEET FEED BACK

The other day I mentioned to a coach that sometimes it’s frustrating when you give feedback to a swimmer 🏊‍♀️ at a meet only to see that swimmer show up at the next practice and continue to make the same technical mistakes that we talked about, with little effort or thought to correcting them.  These mistakes are very minor and easily correctable with a little focus and passion, which was a topic last week.

Another coach told me that one of their swimmers response at a meet was that he/she has been swimming that way since they were 8 and they were not going to change.  This coach says that they will take that into consideration as they move forward, and I will say this is not coming from our club, so let’s be clear I’m not throwing anyone under the 🚌.  I don’t roll like that.  More to the point and unfortunately maybe in your minds I don’t give up that easily, and although you may get tired 😴 of hearing the same things over and over, realize this I’m pretty stubborn, and when that day arrives it’s time to hang up that old clipboard 📋.

Most swimmers have very good and caring coaches, or else they would not be coaching.  At a meet they take the time to watch you swim.  As for myself I like to focus more on the little things and how you race, and the last thing that I worry about is the time.  I know for you that time is important and that is understandable in today’s world.  It’s immediate feedback just you and the stopwatch ⏱, nobody’s opinions.  For those of you to young for college, it’s like that one course you take where the only grade you get is PASS OR FAIL. It’s an easy trap for a swimmer to fall into when they look at the clock, in your minds I truly believe your immediate reaction is “I was great 👍 or I failed”.  Oh my little darlings there is so much more to it at this stage of your swimming

After a race coaches proceed to give you feedback and in the process will point out the parts of your race that you put together well, and at the same time the parts of your race that you need to take back to practice to work on so that the next time your race will be a little better.  There are two kinds of 🏊‍♀️, the one who will take that feedback back to practice, focus and work on it with the hopes of becoming a better swimmer.  Then there is the average 🏊‍♀️ who may have heard the feedback, but by the next practice has forgotten everything and goes back to doing the little things that we are trying to correct.  Which type of 🏊‍♀️ are you?

What you do in practice echos in your races!  What sound would you like reverberating in your 👂 👂 at your race.  You control your mind and what you put into it, good or bad.  You control how you practice, good or bad, and how you practice controls how you are going to race.  Pretty simple stuff, not difficult, you just need to have that passion, will and desire to get it done ✅.  Don’t forget what I have tried to get you to believe, I am your ASSISTANT COACH, the real coach is in each of you.

We do what we have to!